Dealing with legal issues can always be stressful, particularly if it’s a rather serious case where the freedom of you or your loved one is in danger. In such cases, you have to know all the available options, like whether you can post your own bail bonds. However, that’s only half the battle and you may still need a way to not spend a single night in prison.
In such cases, the only sensible option is to post your own bail bonds. If you don’t have any prior experience with bail, there could be many questions in your mind about the amount, collateral, and details of cash bail. We’ll tackle all of those questions here. First, let’s give you a simple definition of bail.
What Is Bail?
To get out of prison, you need to post a certain amount of money with the court, which is called “bail.” It serves as a tool to reassure the court that you’ll show up for your next court hearings.
How Does a California Court Set Bail?
Usually, at the first court session, the bond amount is decided. With a minor offense, such as a DUI without damages or injuries, the defendant is often freed without posting a bond.
The court will sometimes grant you freedom on your own recognizance (O.R). You don’t need to post bond if the court grants you “O.R.”; instead, you only agree to appear in court as scheduled. The judge may refuse to allow you to post bail in specific situations for certain offenses. Nevertheless, bail is generally necessary.
In most cases, you will need to pay the bail in cash or hire a bail bondsman to post the bail in exchange for a small commission.
Bail Amount in California
According to California state laws, the bail sum often costs between $10K and $100K, based on your particular situation. Many offenders choose to post bail through a bondsman rather than posting their own money because the vast majority of people can’t afford to pay a hefty sum in a short amount of time.
Not Showing Up in Court: The Consequences
If you miss the scheduled court dates, you may have committed a misdemeanor or criminal offense.
As a result, your legal case can suffer, and you shouldn’t expect to get another chance to post bail. You’ll probably remain in custody until your next court date. If you fail to show up for a session after posting your own bail bonds, you have to forfeit the cash and the collateral used to secure the bail.
Can You Post Your Own Bail?
Essentially, yes. If you have the financial resources to pay the entire sum at the time of arrest, you can post your own bail bond without needing any cosigners. But, the only issue is that most people generally don’t have the money to pay the full amount at once, especially if they’re dealing with more serious cases where the court has set a hefty sum as bail.
How Does Cash Bail Work?
Posting cash bail means that you’ll have to pay the whole sum in cash to avoid spending time, or at least more time, in prison.
You will not get the money back if you fail to attend in person for any of your upcoming court hearings linked to the case. The whole bail payment will be refunded to you if you appear in court for all of the upcoming sessions. A bondsman would normally charge roughly 10% of the bail sum for the service of depositing your bail.
Can The Court Deny Cash Bail?
If the court suspects that the cash is obtained illegally to pay bail, you may be refused the chance to post cash bail. You will need to demonstrate that the money is sourced from a legitimate source.
For instance, the court could question the source of the money if you or a colleague posts cash bail of $100,000 or more after being accused of embezzling a sizable sum of money or trafficking drugs.
Other Ways to Post Bail
In some cases, you may have the cash, but for some reason or another, choose not to post your own bail bonds with cash. In such a scenario, you have two options:
Offering Collateral
Many think that calling a bail bondsman is probably not a good idea if you don’t have the money to pay the whole bond sum. But, you might be able to come up with some money to pay your way out of jail. An example of this approach is a collateral bond, where you use any asset, e.g. real estate, vehicle, or bike, instead of cash.
One of these alternatives can be used as the bond sum if the bail bondsman accepts collateral bonds. For using this kind of bond, the majority of bail bond brokers have certain fundamental requirements.
The asset you decide to use as collateral must be yours to satisfy the fundamental conditions of a collateral bond. This indicates that the asset is now fully paid for and that it is registered in your name. The same conditions for the collateral still apply if you intend to utilize anyone’s assets as collateral; in that case, they must co-sign the bond.
One Percent Bond
Depending on the offense, California state laws allow you to negotiate with the bail bondsman and persuade them to accept a 1% bond as collateral, which is a cheap bail bond solution. This is usually possible in nonviolent situations such as driving under the influence (DUI).
The agency may accept the proposal if you meet their requirements. There’s no significant difference between a 1% bond and a 10% bond. Once you receive the approval and fill out the paperwork, you’ll pay 1% of the bail to the agent as collateral.
Of course, based on the offense and the bail sum, you can change the percentage amount to anywhere from 0% to 10%. Since the nature of every arrest and offense is different, it’s better to discuss with the agency to find you a cheap bail bond percentage.
Can I Be Released Without Posting Bail?
Based on the recent ruling of the California supreme court regarding cash bail, you can be released from prison if you don’t have the finances to pay the bail. However, this is only possible in cases where the release would not be a threat to public safety.
But, if the court concludes that you have the resources to pay the bail sum, you either will need to pay the full amount in cash or find a bail bondsman that can arrange a flexible payment structure for you, helping you not spend a single night in jail.
You just need the right agency to negotiate a cheap bail bond and speed up the process so you won’t have to deal with any more stress. In such cases, it’s really hard to secure the bail sum on short notice, so it’s really good if you can find an agency with a flexible payment plan.
Fortunately, we at Escondido Bail Bonds can help you in such difficult times. To speed up the process, we can either send an agent to your door to approve your application or submit all the paperwork via docu-sign. We’re also a phone call away, ready to answer any question you may have.
